The best show in town

 Sorry for neglecting my blog recently. Busy weeks, lockdown, lots of stuff going on. I have been out daily to marvel at the spectacle of migration, up in the sky and on the ground. It has really been great. However, to my eyes, one of the best shows Israel has to offer is the congregation of fresh-looking desert birds, post post-breeding moult, at desert springs. A while ago I went with Amir to Ein Salvadora, a famous little spring north of Ein Gedi. It holds water year-round, in stunning location, with soaring cliffs and the Dead Sea in the backdrop. It's a tiny spring, just a few drops of water trickling out from a crack in a wall, concealed behind a large Salvadora persica bush. That's enough to attract birds and mammals from far afield. It's not an easy site for photography - one needs to keep a fair distance away from the spring in order not to disturb the animals, and the drinking spot is in deep shade, red light reflecting from the surrounding sandstone rocks.

We climbed up the mountain trail before dawn, to position ourselves at an appropriate spot as soon as birds started to arrive. And they did, in big numbers. All quality. All so pretty and fresh. Those arriving in biggest numbers were Trumpeter Finch - fantastic breeding season for them all over the Israeli desert, so many youngsters around. Hundreds came in to drink, arriving in flocks, normally first perched on the rocks above the spring before descending to the water.

Another dominant species was Striolated Bunting - hundreds came in to drink too. Most were young birds, demonstrating the excellent breeding season they had. 

Sinai Rosefinch is another highly-prized specialty of this site. It is scarcer, and shier, than the other species. They spent more time perched up on the walls above the spring, and chose secluded spots for drinking. Again, most were young birds, adults, especially males in lower proportions. Still, out of the 75 birds in total, quite a few were pink jems.

Trumpeter and rosefinch

Desert Lark came in to drink in hundreds too:

Overhead, a Barbary Falcon cruised above the cliffs, a pair of Common Ravens kronked around, and a lone Long-legged Buzzard circled.

Kronk-kronk!

A large herd of Nubian Ibex came down to drink and hung around the spring. The herd included a dominant bull, showing off his swagger, dominating younger males and chasing after females:

Soon it became too hot for animals and humans, we headed back down to our car and back to civilisation. It certainly felt better up by the spring.

Cyprus pilgrimage

This morning Meidad and me paid Wadi Mishmar, by the Dead Sea, its annual late February visit, coinciding with peak migration of Cyprus Warbler. Soon after we started walking in, we heard a deep, distant raven croak and then spotted two Common Ravens perched on a dead tree in the distance - nice start.

We started checking the lush Taily Weed (Ochradenus baccatus) bushesץ At first it was big numbers of Sardinian Warblers; then as we continued climbing up the dry wadi bed, we encountered more and more Cyprus Warblers, giving their metallic chattering from deep inside bushes:

During the first hour or so, we encountered so many Cyprus Warblers, which was great, but from a photographic point of view they were real bastards, giving frustratingly bad views like this

or like this

or like this

Eventually I bumped into a male who wanted to play ball. I first spotted him looking all gorgeous in an acacia tree:

Then he decided to make the decent move and flew straight towards me:

And settled for a couple of minutes in a bush just few meters away, feasting on what the bush has to offer - fruit, arthropods, pollen. He was just brilliant. What a performer.

We ended up with 22 Cyprus Warblers - good tally. There were a few more migrants in the wadi - both cuckoos, Eastern Orphean, good fun. eBird checklist here.

On the way back home spent a midday hour in Lahav NR, which looks stunning now, flowers wall to wall, good birds singing, I had a good time.

Pink Butterfly Orchid

Finsch's Wheatear with Poppy Anemones in the background

Corn Bunting singing on Branched Ashpodel

Spectacled Warbler on Dominican Sage, accompanied by Xerocrassa seetzeni snails (thanks Nitai)

eBird checklist here.

Farewell to Yael

Yesterday I reached a personal milestone in my eBird 2019 Checklist-a-day Challenge. It was my 200th day in a row of submitting meaningful eBird checklists. The last day that I did not submit an eBird checklist was December 23rd 2018. 

I spent the day with SPNI's youth bird club, led by the wonderful Yael Lehnardt, up on Mt. Hermon. This was Yael's ultimate trip with the group before moving on. Huge appreciation to Yael for years of endless dedication, efforts and inspiration. She raised a fantastic generation of brilliant young birders, naturalists and conservationists. These young boys and girls already impact the Israeli birding and wildlife scene greatly. Our birding itinerary included a strenuous climb up Mt. Hermon, from 1400m to 2100m. It was very hot, solar radiation was fierce, terrain was rough and our backs were in pain for carrying so much water and gear. However, it was such a symbolic morning, to conquer the mountain, see the birds, and feel the youngster's huge satisfaction of withstanding the challenge.

Birding was tough, but we managed to see all expected Hermon specialties, including Asian Crimson-winged Finch, Pale Rockfinch, Horned Lark, Sombre Tit and Western Rock Nuthatch. Perhaps the most extraordinary observation was a congregation of forty (!) Common Ravens, surely attracted to rubbish outside a military base. This is by far the largest concentration every recorded in Israel of this scarce species. Nice also to connect with two Chaffinch, that only recently were realised to breed in Israel. I managed three checklists with the group- of the climb up, hills abovethe upper cable station, and drinking pools. My bird photos are shit, sorry - harsh light and other excuses.

Stunning vista over the Hula Valley before climbing up

Common Raven

Horned Lark

Tail-less Pale Rockfinch

Juvvy Syrian Serins

Zygaena olivieri

Our climb

Yael and her group

Big cliffs, cool migration

Yesterday I worked with Re'a in the Judean Desert. We assisted efforts by INPA to locate and monitor nests of some of Israel's most threatened raptors. I can think of worse ways to spend the day - we had a long, beautiful hike through some of Israel's most scenic spots, looking for iconic species. We also had brilliant migration low over the desert plateau - mainly Black Storks and also several hundred Steppe Buzzard. A few small, mobile flocks of Pale Rock Sparrow zoomed through. The skies and cliff faces were full of swifts and hirundines. Bliss.

This is the stunning view east, down the mighty Ze'elim Gorge, Dead Sea in the distance:

Black Storks 

The weather was somewhat unstable yesterday. When heavy cloud rolled in and covered the skies, and it felt like it's going to rain, this passing flock of Black Storks struggled to migrate on. The flock was battling against the wind and flying too low.

Taken with my phone across the gorge

Eventually they decided to drop down and rest for a while on the cliffs until the weather improved.

Good activity of local species, including (the rare) Common Raven doing chough-like aerial displays:

Desert Lark looking rather dapper in this beautiful setting:

Some water left in waterholes after the winter floods:

Hosting a Grey Wagtail

Many thanks to Re'a, and to Jamil the local INPA ranger. eBird checklist here.